Rabaroo and Deja Vu
by Midground
Summary: Asami is plagued by an old nightmare and thoughts about her father. Written for the Korrasami week prompt 'Nightmares.'


**Author's Note:** This was done (a day late, sorry!) for Korrasami week using the prompts from the Korrasami Week Tumblr. This fic was written in response to the prompt 'Nightmare.' A huge thank you to Mothface for her beta work and patience, and (once again) for the title.

Happy reading!

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Asami came awake all at once into a familiar nightmare. Looming shadows surrounded her, blurring at the edges into the deeper black of nighttime. She sat up slowly. Peering through the darkness, she could just make out the fuzzy outlines of her room – there was her vanity, and there was her bookshelf, and there was the ornate stand that her rows and rows of dolls sat on. Asami knew that if she looked to her right, she would see Tashi, the stuffed Rabaroo she used to sleep with every night, back when she was little.

She looked down. Her hands, clutching at her sheets, were small, and the frilled edge of a young girl's nightgown poked out around her wrists. Asami knew that the rest of her would match. She was a child again, replaying a a nightmare that had haunted her for years. Except this nightmare wasn't a fantasy, but a memory.

An agonized scream pierced the hush, and child-Asami looked quickly towards the door. The sound struck a chord inside her – that scream was what woke her, its echoes playing at the edges of her consciousness. A dull crash sounded from somewhere in the house, and her hands tightened on the blanket, pulse quickening. She didn't want to get up – didn't want to let the dream go on the way it always did – but the memory marched on like the tide, and she pushed her blankets away and stood.

The floor was cold under her feet – did she notice it that day, fifteen years ago? Or was it something her mind added in, something which had become part of the memory as time went on?

Child-Asami groped behind herself blindly until her hand connected with Tashi's comforting softness. She clutched the animal to her chest, gazing fearfully at the door as a shout reached her ears. She couldn't turn away. Rabaroo in tow, she padded to the door, reached up, and opened it.

The hallway was even darker than her room and she stepped into it slowly, turning left towards the stairs. Another shout reached her. She crept along, keeping the wall close to her, heart pounding in her ears. Were the stairs always so far away? Or did fear just make the seconds that ticked by stretch into forever?

She didn't know. All she knew was that when she finally reached the stairs and peeked around the wall, a black figure was already hulking there, waiting for her. Child-Asami tried to scream, but terror froze her tongue and caused her heart to stutter. Her mouth dropped open, miming the scream it couldn't make, and, as though sensing it, the figure turned.

"Asami!" Her father's voice hissed out from the shadow. In the time it took for her heart to start again, her father had swept up the stairs to her and gripped her shoulders in trembling fingers. Child-Asami stared at the inky form in front of her, reaching out to grasp the long mustache that hung below her father's chin, something she always did as a child, back before her father cropped his facial hair short.

"Asami you _must_ return to your room," he commanded, a note of urgency in his voice that she had never heard before. She stared at where his face would be and continued to stroke the silky hair beneath her fingers, needing to feel that something was normal in all of this fear and darkness and uncertainty. "Do you hear me?" He asked, desperate. Another crash sounded and the black shape shifted – the mustache tugged out of her grasp. He turned back to her. "Go to your room. Lock your door. Wait for me there." Another scream. "I love you, Asami. _Go._"

The black shape that was her father rose up to its full height in the blackness and flowed down the stairs. Child-Asami didn't see anything else because she turned back towards her room and began to run. As the dream moved on, Asami knew she would reach her door, fly inside, lock it behind her, and then begin to hear the screams and shouts and crashes as her father tried – and failed – to save her mother.

She was almost there, she could see the gray outline of her room that lay beyond the open door, but just as she was about to cross the threshold, the door slammed shut in her face.

"It's time," proclaimed a voice, the solemn, measured words striking her to the core. Asami – no longer child-Asami, but herself again – turned around in front of the bedroom door that was now closed to her, seeking the source of that voice. It was so familiar – she knew she should have recognized the speaker, but their identity eluded her.

Asami looked back the way she had came, but she could see only blackness. Farther down the hallway, a ponderous gray monster stood waiting. Something about it called to her, and Asami began to run towards it. As she ran, she realized that Rabaroo was no longer clutched in her hand by one long ear – instead another hand fit inside her own, and Asami could hear the steady breathing of a companion beside her.

Asami almost stopped running; she wanted know who her companion was, and ask them where they were going, and why her nightmare – which had never changed in fifteen years – was suddenly veering off in a new direction. But the words never came to her, so she fixed her eyes on the monster, which seemed to be shrinking, and continued on. She was soon joined by another presence on her opposite side, and another behind her. These kept their distance, but kept pace with her and her companion.

And then the four of them ran off the edge of darkness and into a room flooded with light. The floor was a solid sheet of stone, the walls unadorned metal with rib-like support beams and round windows set high in the wall. The monster shed its obscurity and resolved itself into something real and far more threatening: one of her father's enormous mecha tanks.

They stopped beside the machine, and Asami suddenly realized who was holding her hand. In fact, she was amazed she hadn't known it before. It was Korra, and a glance to her right confirmed it. Her girlfriend smiled sadly at her and squeezed her hand. Asami glanced left and saw Mako, and then over her shoulder to see Bolin, with Pabu on his shoulder. Both of them inclined their heads, but remained silent.

Asami turned back to Korra, who sighed heavily. "It's time," she announced mournfully, and Asami realized that she had been the one speaking before as well. The glass hatch of the mecha tank popped open, and Asami knew it was calling to _her_.

"I don't want to do this," she protested, uneasy. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to stay out of the tank, to stay _here_ with Korra and their friends. But she sensed that something had to be done first.

"You have to," Korra decreed. "It's for us."

"It's for everyone," Mako added.

"It's for the future," Bolin finished.

It was Asami's turn to sigh. "Ok," she whispered. Korra leaned in and kissed her gently, and Asami turned to the tank and climbed inside. She strapped herself into the cockpit, grasping the controls and bringing the tank smoothly to life. It hummed around her, deep and meacing. This wasn't a machine designed for sport or convenience, it was a machine designed for destruction. The glass hatch closed.

Through the panels, Asami became aware of another tank standing at the far side of the hanger. Asami pushed the main control levers forward, knowing that this was her goal – this was the obstacle she had to overcome to return to Korra and her friends.

As she moved, the mecha tank picked up speed. Asami flew towards her target, and as she closed in, she pulled one metal arm back and slammed it forward into the glass head of the other tank. With all of that force and momentum behind it, the metal arm shattered the glass bubble and the other tank crashed to the ground.

Asami moved forward so that she could see who she had just struck down. Her father gazed up at her from the twisted metal carapace of the broken tank. He looked calm, almost peaceful, and they locked eyes and stared at one another for a long, wordless moment.

Then Asami raised her metal arm again, high into the air.

"I love you, Asami," her father murmured, as clearly as if he was standing right in front of her. "_Go_."

She brought the arm down.

...

Asami gasped as she woke, tears choking her as they streamed freely down her cheeks. She rolled to her side and reached out blindly, her hand connecting with something soft and furred as she continued to sob into her pillow. Her first instinct told her it was Tashi, and she clutched at it, but the object in her hand pulled out of her grasp and licked her cheek with a large, warm tongue.

"Naga," Asami realized, mind finally catching up with reality. She focused through her tears at the large, concerned polar bear dog that dominated her vision. Taking a shuddering breath, Asami sat up slightly and looked around. She was in her room – her _real _room – at the Sato Mansion, and the first light of day was just beginning to stream through the windows.

"Mmhhhmph," came the inelegant and unintelligible input from the woman beside her. Asami turned and saw Korra blinking sleepily up at her. "Asami?" She croaked out. Asami could almost _see_ the wheels turning in her girlfriend's head. She saw the moment Korra noticed the tears still staining her cheeks, when Korra's gaze went from bleary and irritable to concerned and caring. "You ok?" She asked, voice clearer this time. She sat up, sheet falling away unnoticed from her nude body. But then, modesty was hardly an issue for them anymore.

"I'm fine," Asami replied quickly, rubbing Naga's ears when the polar bear dog lowered her head into Asami's lap, taking comfort from the action. "It was just... just a bad dream." She didn't look at Korra, but down at furry ears that demanded her attention.

She felt the bed shift as Korra moved closer. "It must have been some dream," Korra said quietly, reaching out to wrap her arm around Asami's shoulders. Asami only resisted for a moment before allowing Korra to pull her close. She rested her head on Korra's shoulder and was quiet for some time. Korra rubbed her arm soothingly, and she, in turn, rubbed Naga's ears.

"It was about my father," she revealed finally. Korra paused and squeezed her arm.

"We don't have to tell him today," Korra reminded her softly.

"No... We _do _have to tell him today," Asami corrected. "He's my father. Even if he won't approve, even if he doesn't..." her voice caught, "Doesn't recognize me as his daughter any longer, we have to tell him." Asami pulled away and sat up. "We've been together for almost a year, Korra. We can't put it off any longer."

"I know, I know. I was only trying to help."

Asami smiled at the sulkiness in her tone. She found Korra's early morning grumpiness endearing, which was fortunate because she encountered it almost every day. "I know you were. And I appreciate the effort." Asami leaned over and kissed her, pushing the lingering feelings of terror and heartbreak away. "Do you want some tea? I could ring the butler to get us some."

"Sounds great," Korra agreed with a yawn. Then she groaned and shook herself. "Actually, I'd better give Lin a call and let her know we'll be coming in today. I'll tell Saroh to get breakfast ready when I'm downstairs." She reluctantly stood and walked over to the closet, where a blue robe hung next to Asami's red one. "We're so lucky we know the Police Chief," she mused as she pulled her robe on. "Tenzin was telling me about how much paperwork is normally involved with visiting Republic City Prison, and it doesn't sound fun."

Asami smiled crookedly as she continued to stroke Naga's soft fur. "It's not supposed to be fun, Korra. It's a prison." Korra walked to the door and opened it. "Saroh should be awake already, just ring the bell in the kitchen if you can't find him," Asami reminded her.

"Ok," Korra acknowledged. She paused in the doorway, looking back at Asami still curled up in bed. She smiled tenderly. "I love you, Asami."

Asami rolled her eyes, pretending to be scornful. But then she smiled back. "Go," she urged. And Korra turned and went, leaving the door open behind her.


End file.
